Reporting .22 rifle as lost 5 years ago

[pa_expat]

I am new to the forum and this is my first time posting.

About 12 years ago, when I was living in PA, I purchased a .22 rifle just to do some target practice while at my future in-laws vacation home. I always left the rifle in the house, tucked away in soffit. I used it a few times while at the house and forgot about it since we stopped visiting the property.

About 5 years ago the property was sold with much of the contents still there - the rifle included. I haven't thought about that .22 until the last couple of days and wanted to make sure that I properly reported it as lost.

I am trying to get in touch with the owner of the property (I assume they would have found it if they did any demo work in the house/kitchen area).

If I can't get in touch with them, what is the proper way to report the .22 as lost? I have since moved to NJ and just want to make sure I follow the right procedure. I don't have the serial # any longer. Is there some kind of public database that I can use to look that up or someone I can contact to get that information?

Thanks in advance.

[Arcana71]

About 5 years ago the property was sold with much of the contents still there - the rifle included. I haven't thought about that .22 until the last couple of days and wanted to make sure that I properly reported it as lost.

The house in question was/is in PA, correct? The rifle was purchased in PA while you were a resident of PA and it never left, also correct? If so, then my take on it is as follows: If it was in the house when you sold the house, you didn't lose the rifle. You sold the rifle to whomever purchased the house. Of course, my assessment carries NO legal weight whatsoever.

[knight0334]

It wouldn't truly be a "lost" gun, but rather a misplaced/mislaid gun that you know where it was last.

Filing a "lost" gun could be construed to be filing a false report of some sort.

You could argue that due to forgetfulness that the gun wasn't part of the sale of the house, but it would be a tough fight. If you even slightly knew about the sale of the house and your gun being within it and didn't bring it up near time of sale - it's pretty much a closed issue with the rifle having legally transferred to the owner of the real-estate.

There are no public databases for such either. For all intensive purposes the gun is no longer yours, and no longer a burden of yours - unless you want to argue in court that it is misplaced/mislaid property that you are reclaiming.

[NShortino]

I'm not a lawyer, but I'd have to agree with Arcana71 on this one. If the deal when you made the sale was for the house and everything in it, that would have included all of its contents, including the gun.

If the buyer was a PA resident (or maybe they'll be considered one either way since they DID just buy a house in PA) then that gun sale would have been perfectly legal without any paperwork since it was a rifle. If they were considered non-residents (and I guess also if you knew the buyer was a prohibited person), than I guess you would be guilty of an illegal sale, and you may want to look at that.

I doubt you'd have any argument to get the gun back from the buyer. You did sell it along with the house, and unless they are prohibited from owning it then it is legally theirs. If they didn't want it, and decided to give it back to you, they would have to send it to a NJ FFL to have it transferred back to you, though that doesn't seem worth the money or aggravation just for an old .22.

[pa_expat]

Thanks for the feedback - just wanted to clear some things up. While I bought the rifle and it is registered in my name, the house itself (and therefore the sale) was not mine. It was owned by my in-laws. Me and my wife just vacationed there throughout the year.

As for the buyer, he was a local resident, and definitely from PA. I am not concerned with getting the rifle back, just concerned with updating the ownership if at all possible.

My wife has been able to contact the buyer and they are still remodeling the home, so I have to assume it was found. We are waiting to hear back from them.

Thanks again.

[knight0334]

Thanks for the feedback - just wanted to clear some things up. While I bought the rifle and it is registered in my name, the house itself (and therefore the sale) was not mine. It was owned by my in-laws. Me and my wife just vacationed there throughout the year.

As for the buyer, he was a local resident, and definitely from PA. I am not concerned with getting the rifle back, just concerned with updating the ownership if at all possible.

My wife has been able to contact the buyer and they are still remodeling the home, so I have to assume it was found. We are waiting to hear back from them.

Thanks again.

There is no registration of rifles in PA. Only 2-4 states/municipalities have long gun registration. The federal 4473 form stays with the FFL for upto 20 years, then can be destroyed. The only time any government sees the 4473 form is when there is an inquiry with the FFL or the FFL goes out of business.

If you were a PA resident at the time of the house sale and the new home owner is of the cooperative type - all I'd ask for is acknowledgement that the gun transferred at the time of the house sale.

However, if you were not a resident of PA at the time of the house sale - there could be federal issues(unlawful interstate transfer). I personally am not sure how to advise from here on out if such is the case.

[bac0nfat]

This is a good example of one reason not to have a law requiring lost/stolen firearms to be reported within a certain period of time. You would now be in a position where the only way to report the gun lost or stolen would be to incriminate yourself.